Causes
The specific cause/ causes of eating disorders are unknown. However, it is believed to be due to a combination of biological, psychological and/or environmental abnormalities. A common belief is that "Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger." This would mean that some people are born with a predisposition to it, which can be brought to the surface pending on environment and reactions to it. Many people with eating disorders suffer also from body dysmorphic disorder, altering the way a person sees themselves. There are also many other possibilities such as environmental, social and interpersonal issues that could promote and sustain this illness. Also, the media are oftentimes blamed for the rise in the incidence of eating disorders due to the fact that media images of idealized slim physical shape of people such as models and celebrities motivate or even force people to attempt to achieve slimness themselves. The media are accused of distorting reality, in the sense that people portrayed in the media are either naturally thin and thus unrepresentative of normality or unnaturally thin by forcing their bodies to look like the ideal image by putting excessive pressure on themselves to look a certain way.
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